[ { "id": 204290, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1961", "page_number": 58, "title": "RAS-1961", "content_text": "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch \n\nRASHKB and author \n\nVol. 1 (1961) \n\nISSN 1991-7295 \n\n54 \n\nas a free gift to form a reference library. The books had suffered a good deal in being constantly moved about, the number was now 3800, all of them dilapidated and 3000 were considered worth rebinding. This would cost about $3,000 but the Society had no money for this work. A despatch dated 29 December, 1863 from the acting Governor, W. T. Mercer to the Colonial Secretary quoted the Morrison Education Society's circular and asked for action.1 \n\nA City Hall containing a Library and a Museum was eventually built on the site now occupied by the Bank of China and the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation in Queen's Road Central and adjoining Statue Square. It was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on the 2 November, 1869 and during his tour of the building His Grace visited both the Library and the Museum. \n\nA printed catalogue of the Morrison Library was issued in 1873 by the City Hall Committee. It contains 1666 entries arranged in alphabetical order of authors or titles, editor, translator, etc., where the author is not known, only eight of which I have been able to identify as belonging formerly to the Royal Asiatic Society. The books are classified, single letters indicating the following groups :- \n\nA History. Peerages, &c. B Biographies and memoirs. C Geography including works on various countries. Travels, Voyages and Adventures, \n\nD Natural History: Ornithology. E Botany. \n\nF Atlas Gazetteers, Meteorology, Guidebooks, Geology, Metallurgy and Mineralogy. Topography. \n\nG Mechanics. \n\nH Encyclopaedias, \n\nI Commercial Statistics. International Law, Jurisprudence, \n\nJ Complete Works. K Astronomy. \n\nL Chemistry. Optics. \n\nM Mathematics. \n\nN Painting, Music. Science and Art, \n\nO Medicine and Surgery. \n\nP Biblical works. \n\nQ Oriental Societies. Journals. R Classics. Dictionaries. \n\nS Novels. \n\nT Drama and poetry. \n\nU Periodical works. Directories. V Divinity. Law, Treaties and Conventions. W Miscellaneous works. \n\nA stocktaking was made in 1956 and of the 1666 titles there are now 1233 remaining (2748 volumes out of 3583). Some volumes were removed during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and were not subsequently recovered. The condition of the books is poor. Nearly all are worm-eaten to a greater or \n\n1 C.O.129/94, Public Records Office, London. (I am indebted to Mr. G. B. Endacott of the University of Hong Kong for supplying this reference).", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1961.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204291, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1961", "page_number": 59, "title": "RAS-1961", "content_text": "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch\n\nRASHKB and author\n\nVol. 1 (1961)\n\nISSN 1991-7295\n\n55\n\nlesser degree and the rebinding and repairing which has been done is unskilful in the extreme.\n\nThe City Hall Library flourished in spite of some administrative difficulties and, in the Annual Report for 1880, it was stated that there had been 1917 readers during the year, that subscriptions amounting to $650 had been received from Europeans and $347 from Chinese and that it was 'fairly self supporting'.2 The salary of the Curator was paid by the Government.\n\nThe Library continued to justify its existence and in Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, published in 1908 it is described as follows:-\n\nThe nucleus of the Public Library was the library received in 1869 from the Morrison Education Society as a free gift for the use of the public, on condition that in consideration of this gift and of the great services of Dr. Morrison to both European and Chinese, the books are to be kept distinct from all other collections in the City Hall, and designated the Morrison Library in perpetuation of the great missionary's memory'. In 1871 the City Hall Library consisted of 8,000 volumes, 3,000 of which were unconditionally presented by the Trustees of the Victoria Library. Since that date it has been added to from time to time, and now contains 3,332 volumes in the Morrison Library, 6,220 including 320 Chinese religious and devotional books, in the City Library, and 3,287 in the lending collection—a total of 12,839 volumes. There are many valuable philological, biographical and other works, including some rare first editions, the department dealing with China and Japan being especially well filled. The Library is freely used, the register bearing the names of nearly 500 borrowers. The visitors to the reading-room, which is well supplied with local, home, and American newspapers and magazines, average about 1,412 non-Chinese and 628 Chinese a month. The library is open from nine to nine.\n\nBut a few years later the usefulness of the Morrison Library to the general public was in doubt and it was thought that it would have more practical value in the newly founded University of Hong Kong. At a meeting of the Senate on 25 September, 1913, the Vice-Chancellor was authorized to approach those concerned as to the feasibility of the University's taking over the Morrison Library. This was agreed to in the following terms: \"Upon the petition of the... Attorney General . . . praying for an Order that the Committee of the City Hall be at liberty to hand over to the University of Hong Kong a collection of books designated the 'Morrison Library' upon conditions IT IS ORDERED that the petition be granted in the terms\n\n2 China Mail, 27 August, 1880.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1961.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204292, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1961", "page_number": 60, "title": "RAS-1961", "content_text": "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch \n\nRASHKB and author \n\n56 \n\nVol. 1 (1961) \n\nISSN 1991-7295 \n\nthereof. 30th day of June 1914\". One of the conditions was that the Library should be unconditionally returned to the City Hall upon demand of the Committee but this right was revoked in 1925 when they \"definitely and permanently renounced their right to demand the return... of the... Library\" and it became University property. The books may now be consulted by any interested member of the public upon application to the Librarian of the University. Another move is still planned for it to the new air-conditioned University Library where it should continue to provide rewarding browsing for the curious for many years to come.\n\nPerhaps a note on the end of the first City Hall Library should be added. The rest of it remained open until 1932 when an ordinance was passed by the Legislative Council on 23 June to the effect that Government had decided to resume possession of the City Hall site. The ordinance stated that;\n\nThe premises together with all buildings now standing thereon revert to the Crown free from any restriction whatever.\n\nThe City Hall Committee also has to hand over the furniture, fittings, bookcases, books, show-cases, specimens, exhibits, etc., of the City Hall, including the library and museum to the Director of Public Works who shall dispose of them, or any of them as the Governor in Council may direct.... The Future. It is not the intention of the Government to re-erect a City Hall on this site, part of which will be sold and part developed to accord with a general scheme of town planning; but as part of that scheme it is the intention of the Government to make provision for public amenities of the kind hitherto provided by the Committee of City Hall.'\n\nSo did the Government of the day commit itself to providing a public library for the community and at last in 1960 piling for a new City Hall Library is under way.\n\nTHE BOOKS\n\nIt would be unfair to judge the library which bears Morrison's name as a reflection of his own taste or scholarship. Too many books have been added to it from a variety of sources for that and too many from his original collection have been lost. Morrison's signature can still be found in a number of the books extant; from indications in his Memoirs quite a number of others can be identified, enough to reflect his qualities as a careful and \n\n3 Letter from Deacons (Solicitors) to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, 24 August, 1925,\n\n4 Hong Kong Weekly Press and China Overland Trade Report, 10 June, 1932.\n\nPage 60\n\nPage 61", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1961.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204901, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1965", "page_number": 9, "title": "RAS-1965", "content_text": "into close contact with the people of the rural districts of the Colony. The success of these studies proved so encouraging that we have considered it to be a worthy task to follow up and to record in print all that can be recorded now of the traditional aspects of Chinese life which can still be seen in the rural areas of Hong Kong, but which are in danger of dying and vanishing forever. The results of the Symposium, including the substance of the papers read on the first day, have been recorded in a booklet edited by Dr. Marjorie Topley which will be published in a month or two. It will be the first comprehensive sociological study of New Territories organization. We commend this booklet to members and we hope that we can recoup the cost of its printing. We hope to be able to continue this line of study and research and that it might be of assistance to the Committee of the City Hall Museum, who are considering a project for the inclusion in the Museum of exhibits illustrating the ethnography and history of the native peoples of Hong Kong.\n\nA particular feature of the Society's work is the production of its Journal and we may justly feel a sense of pride in the vigorous scholarship exemplified in the first three volumes. Owing to a series of unforeseen difficulties, the issue for 1963-64, which should have been published last summer, has been much delayed. Mr. Cranmer-Byng, the Chairman of the Editorial Committee, who had been mainly responsible for the first three volumes left the Colony early in 1964, and Mr. Talbot, who kindly stepped into the breach, was on leave until the late autumn. The printers also had been unable to obtain the special accented type for the romanization of oriental languages which had been ordered in October 1963. The Journal, however, will, we are assured, be out next month.\n\nDuring 1964 the Society suffered serious and regrettable losses. In March, Sir Robert Black, who had been our Patron since the branch was revived, left the Colony. He was not only our Patron but had enrolled as a life member. He had taken an active interest in the Society and both he and Lady Black, in spite of the many calls on their time, attended most of our meetings. In the same month, Mr. Cranmer-Byng left. He took a leading part in the re-establishment of the Hong Kong Branch in 1959; he was a tower of strength on the Council and was the Chairman", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1965.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205248, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1967", "page_number": 10, "title": "RAS-1967", "content_text": "and in the Colonial Office in London. Mr. Endacott's History of Hong Kong (1958) has already indicated what sort of material is available to form the necessary background to new studies in urban history and sociology.\n\nWe hope, then, that this Journal will receive contributions in this neglected field and that, in particular, it will benefit from the new project in urban studies, now being initiated by Dr. Alan Birch of the History Department at the University of Hong Kong. We hope, too, that some of the material being obtained from the Urban Family Life Study commissioned by the Hong Kong Government and now in progress under the direction of Dr. Robert Mitchell from the University of California, Berkeley, may appear in its pages. As a Hong Kong publication the Journal must play its part in encouraging and making available some of this basic information.\n\nMeantime we have not made much progress with the ethnographic aspects stressed by the Hon. Editor in 1962. Unfortunately, pure ethnography is rather neglected by scholars nowadays and, probably for this reason, less progress has been made in this field, though the curator of the City Hall Museum and Art Gallery, with the help of the New Territories Administration and others, has begun collecting items of interest, with a view to forming a local collection. Members were fortunate recently in hearing a lecture from Mr. Alan L. Kagan on the Cantonese Puppet Theatre in Hong Kong. It is hoped to include this article in the 1968 Journal. Mr. Kagan's assessment has reinforced Mr. Cranmer-Byng's remark five years ago that time is indeed short. Whereas there are only two part-time puppet troupes operating in present-day Hong Kong, there were more full-time operators twenty years ago, when a smaller, poorer, less-sophisticated and less westernised population supported this type of entertainment enthusiastically and business was good, their services being in demand all over the territory. The Editorial Committee welcomes articles of this sort and would be glad to have more of them from interested persons.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1967.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206734, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1973", "page_number": 11, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "5\n\nour application for acceptance as a constituent Society was agreed by the Arts Centre, and we will have a nominated member of our Council on its Management Committee on all future occasions it meets to discuss plans for facilities.\n\nThe two tours held during the year were organised by two of your officers. One, to the Chinese University, was arranged by Mr. D. A. Gilkes, Honorary Treasurer. The other, to places of historical interest in the Pokfulum area, was arranged by Mr. James Hayes, Vice-President and Honorary Editor. Both events appear to have been very successful.\n\nIn November we had our 5th symposium which took place as usual at The Hong Kong Club--one of the few moderately priced places appropriate for this kind of event in Hong Kong. The subject was \"Hong Kong: Chinese Tradition and the Development of a Town\" and papers were read by people either actively involved in original research, or in the practical aspects of their subjects. It was accompanied by an exhibition of photographs arranged with the kind help of the City Hall staff, and an exhibition of ritual paraphernalia connected with Triad Societies, provided by the Royal Hong Kong Police Force in conjunction with a paper read by one of its officers. The very useful material emerging at this symposium will be published in our brochure series. The material from our previous symposium on the botany of Hong Kong is in process of publication, and this coming week-end we will have our 6th symposium, on Hong Kong Fauna, organised by Professor B. Lofts of the Department of Zoology, University of Hong Kong.\n\nSince the end of the last calendar year several other events have already taken place and might be mentioned here. The first meeting of this year, at which Mr. James Watt of your Council spoke on recent archeological discoveries in China, was attended by our Patron, Sir Murray Maclehose and Lady Maclehose. A very successful tour to Thailand was organised by Mr. Smithies, who has been our Honorary Secretary for the past financial year. It was preceded by a panel presentation on Thailand in which Mr. Smithies participated, together with Mr. James Watt, and the Royal Thai Consul General. Nineteen members and their guests attended the tour itself, which took place over the Chinese New Year in February. I am pleased to report that the event was a great social success, those taking part organising a party on their return.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206752, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1973", "page_number": 29, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "CHINA MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY\n\n23\n\n• Lancer and cross: biographical sketches of fifty pioneer medical missionaries in China, comp. by K. Chimin Wong [Shanghai] Council on Christian Medical Work, 1950, p. 14-16.\n\nEurope in China: the history of Hongkong from the beginning to the year 1882, by E. J. Eitel, Hongkong, Kelly & Walsh, 1895, p. 180.\n\n* Information on the officers and committee members during the brief history of the Society in these two paragraphs, except where otherwise noted, derives variously from the Friend of China, the Hong Kong almanack and directory for 1846, and the Hongkong register, as well as the Transactions.\n\n9 As well as in the Transactions, p. 1-2, the record of this first meeting appears in the Friend of China, v. 14, no. 40, May 17th 1844, p. 754, and the Chinese repository, v. 14, 1845, p. 245.\n\n10 Presumably John Williams & Co., Book Sellers & Publishers, 18 Wellington St. \"next house to the Roman Catholic Chapel.\". From an advertisement in the Hongkong register, v. 18, no. 40, Oct. 7th 1845, p. 162, it appears that the shop also sold everything from fowling pieces to \"rare old aniseed brandy\".\n\n11 Royal Society of London: Catalogue of scientific papers, 1800-1900, London, 1867-1925.\n\n12 U. S. Surgeon-General's Office: Index-catalogue of the Library: authors and subjects, Washington, 1880-1950.\n\nPeriodical articles are entered only under subject.\n\n13 The chronicles of the East India Company trading to China, by H. B. Morse, v. 5: Supplementary, 1742-74. Oxford, 1929, p. 101.\n\n14 Trans. p. 27 gives June 8th, but this must be an error, as Dr. Hobson's letter was dated June 15,\n\n15 \"The history of medical education in Hong Kong\" by Sir Lindsay T. Ride, in Inauguration of the Li Shu Fan Medical Foundation, 3rd March 1963: commemoration volume [Hong Kong, 1963] p. 41.\n\n16 The medical missionary in China... by William Lockhart, London, 1861, p. 141.\n\n17 Royal Asiatic Society. China Branch, Transactions, v. 1, 1847, p. 76.\n\n18 Chinese repository, v. 14, 1845, p. 288-91.\n\n19 Anonymous writer quoted by V. H. G. Jarrett in the South China Morning Post; and H. A. Rydings in JHKBRAS, v. 8, 1968, p. 63.\n\n20 Catalogue of works in the Morrison Library, City Hall, Hongkong, including also a synoptical index. Hongkong, printed at the China Mail Office, 1873.\n\n21 The names adopted were, successively, the Philosophical Society of China (5 Jan. 1847), the Asiatic Society of China (19 Jan, 1847), and the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (7 Sept. 1847).\n\n22 Royal Asiatic Society. China Branch. Transactions, v. 1, 1847, p. 71.\n\n23 Ibid. p. 23.\n\n24 J. R. Jones, op. cit., p. 2.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206941, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1974", "page_number": 12, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "6\n\nsuch facilities. Our representative on the Arts Centre Management Committee is Mr. David Gilkes, our Hon. Treasurer, who reports that because of the constantly increasing costs of building in Hong Kong (currently about 35% a year) and because of difficulties in fund-raising (always a problem with cultural projects in the Colony) building is not likely to start until April 1974. The Society is of course keeping an eye on developments. Because of this delay we are not now proposing to raise our subscription rate from $30 to $50 until January 1976 (we had originally intended to raise it in 1975). At present we continue to be extremely grateful to the British Council for the facilities they provide to us, both in the use of an office for Council meetings of the Society, in clerical assistance, and in housing part of our library. We are also grateful to Hong Kong University for the various facilities they provide, including housing more than half our library collection.\n\nIn early December the Arts Centre held an exhibition at the City Hall at which constituent-member Societies each had a space to demonstrate their own activities or display examples of their work. Mr. Tony Rydings, our Hon. Librarian arranged our own exhibition most effectively and provided show cases. One of the items we showed was our Tibetan scroll obtained from the late Mr. F. A. Nixon, a former member of the Society (you will see from the Hon. Librarian's report that we are also indebted to him for a large donation of books from his estate). We also had samples of our Journal and symposium publications on display. A book was provided for people who wanted further information on the Society, to write their names and addresses. Nearly 100 people expressed interest and all were sent information.\n\nMEMBERSHIP\n\nOur membership increased this year, probably due to the interest shown in the Society at the Arts Centre exhibitions and to the Laos tour. At this time last year membership stood at 555. It is normal, in this very mobile community, for us to have our gains and losses during the year. During the last annual period we lost eight members through resignation, one through death, and thirty-two did not renew their membership: thus there were forty-one losses in all. Again I would urge members to avail themselves of that useful facility, the banker's order: both useful to our treasurer who has to chase up tardy members to discover if they have", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207298, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1975", "page_number": 66, "title": "RAS-1975", "content_text": "58\n\nJ. L. CRANMER-BYNG\n\nanswer. He gave orders that we should have refreshments, and be conveyed back to the Company's factory in chairs belonging to the palace—made us a 'chin-chin', (a complimentary mode of saluting,) which was considered by the Chinese present as a mark of great favour towards us—and then passed on out of the palace.\n\nAs soon as the Hoppo was gone, we were taken by the Mandarins into another apartment, where several tables were laid, covered with fruit and sweetmeats. I was placed at one table with two Mandarins and Mowqua, Mr. Perry and Howqua at another, with two other Mandarins; the rest of the security merchants and Mandarins were placed at tables of four, agreeably to the Chinese custom. A handsome dinner was served, with great abundance of hot wine, the produce of China, and, after passing a very pleasant hour, we were put into state chairs, and carried through the city back to the Company's factory—to the astonishment of all the Chinese, and to the no small satisfaction of Mr. Brown, who had been under much uneasiness on our account.\n\nNext day there was a heavy fine levied on the security merchants—the port-clearance was issued the fleet despatched—and here ends my story.\n\nI remain, dear Sister,\n\nYour affectionate brother,\n\nHUGH LINDSAY.\n\nLindsay ends his story abruptly. \"Next day\", he says, \"there was a heavy fine levied on the security merchants, the port clearance was issued, the fleet despatched...\" This should be compared with Morse's account. The incident took place on February 2nd. Lindsay would have everything taking place on the 3rd, including the sailing of the fleet. But Morse has the Select Committee of supercargoes sending a document to the principal Chinese officials on the 8th, threatening to dispatch the fleet without permission. This produced the desired effect, and permission was given and the first half of the fleet sailed on 10th February.\n\nThe question remains—which of the two accounts should one accept for this particular piece of information? On the whole, since Morse was a serious and experienced historian basing his", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1975.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207311, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1975", "page_number": 79, "title": "RAS-1975", "content_text": "NOTES ON CHIUCHOW OPERA (MA)\n\nHELGA WERLE\n\nMs. Helga Werle, whose article on Chiuchow (in Mandarin Chao-chou) puppets appeared in the 1973 Journal, describes two typical plays of the Chiuchow opera, and gives background information about this particular regional theatre of China. Ed.\n\nIn urbanized Hong Kong today one can see a performance of Chiuchow Opera at City Hall or Lee theatre two or three times a year, but the traditional purpose of this opera is the shen-kung hsi—a performance to celebrate the birthday of a deity. Many areas of Hong Kong have their organized Chiuchow communities centred upon the temple of a certain deity.\n\nThe Chiuchows have innumerable deities, often completely different from the Cantonese. Some of those worshipped in Hong Kong with temples erected in their names are:\n\nLi-shan lao-mu\nT'ai-i chen-ren\nLi lao-ch'un 李老君\nCh'i t'in ta-sheng\nSan-shan kuo-wang\nSan t'ai-tze lao-yeh\nMu-ch'a Chin-ch'a and No-ch'a called the three princes \"san t'ai-tze\", the three sons of Li Ching 李靖\nHan Chung-kung\n\nTo ensure the prosperity of each temple community the birthday of its deity must be properly celebrated. The most outstanding members of the community are chosen to form the prestigious festival committee, which has the duty to collect the necessary amount of money (between 50 and 100,000 HK$) to organize a worthy celebration. And what could rejoice a god's heart more than the luxury of a series of opera performances? After the dates are decided with the consent of the deity involved a large space is booked with a Government office (usually a public playground),\n\nPlates 5-12 at rear of the volume illustrate this article.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1975.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207870, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1976", "page_number": 258, "title": "RAS-1976", "content_text": "SOCIAL RESEARCH IN THE N.T. OF HONG KONG, 1963\n\n243\n\n£5 orders; these will presumably have been sent into town by the bank to be cashed through a city post office and, along with orders actually presented at city post offices, fail to appear in New Territories figures. The indications from the travel agencies in the last month or so of my stay in Hong Kong were of few men going to Britain; the main agency has almost stopped any new business; and it seems unlikely therefore that remittances will increase further. On the contrary, the probability is that after a while they will fall as men remain away longer, their ties with the New Territories being reduced and their commitments abroad increased. And the question will arise whether hardship will result for the New Territories. It is not simply a matter of people being deprived of extra money; if there is any resemblance between the New Territories and the emigrant areas of Fukien and Kwangtung in respect of their economic response to overseas migration, then we should be prepared to find that economic standards and activities have become so adjusted to external income that its falling away occasions disruption and distress.\n\n81. It is of course artificial to treat the matter of overseas migration apart from the movement between the New Territories and the urban areas of the Colony. The city has always attracted New Territories people to it and provided the countryside with an income. It would be extremely interesting to have material showing where absent members of a village are at a given time and what they are doing for a living. I discovered that on one of the islands a local committee was keeping records on emigration and I was able to obtain the data which are presented below. They can have no general value for the study of the problem as a whole, but they suggest the possibility that some Rural Committees have gathered information of this sort and that others might be encouraged to do so. The total number of emigrants involved in this case is 183. Of these 62 are overseas and the remainder in the urban area of the Colony. Of the 62 overseas, 33 are seamen, 23 are in the United Kingdom, 5 in the U.S.A. and 1 in Borneo. All these are men, but 22 of the 99 people in the urban areas are women. Of the 23 men in Britain 5 are in their twenties, 7 in their thirties, 9 in their forties, 1 in his fifties, and 1 in his seventies. Of the 5 in the U.S.A. 2 are in their forties, 2 in their fifties, and 1 in his sixties. The sole man in Borneo is in his thirties. Over a dozen communities are involved in these figures. The distribution of overseas migrants and seamen", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208744, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1979", "page_number": 201, "title": "RAS-1979", "content_text": "174\n\nJULIAN F. PAS\n\n44\n\nAnother incorrectness is found on p. 273:\n\n... at the level of the town, the cult of the local people and the cult of the Confucian officialdom merged imperceptibly into one and the same figure that of the City God.\" This is a quite questionable statement: in many towns the City God temple is not the main deity of the community at all: Matsu is an example, Kuan-yin another one. I admit that officialdom made great efforts to positively control the community cults and promoted the City God temples, but I'd rather like to see examples of townships where his cult has become the main focus of worship. Moreover, City Gods do not seem to have arisen from so-called \"hungry ghosts\" but are rather deified men of great merit. The genesis of these gods does not fit in with the author's theory of deity formation.\n\nIn the latter part of Chapter 7, the author discusses cult leadership. There are several forms or patterns (i) the rotating pattern: all the heads of households in turn become \"stove-master\". (I'd prefer to call him 'incense-master', since in the Chinese term lu-chu the word lu means 'stove' in some contexts, but here it means incensor or incense container); (ii) election by divination (casting the divining blocks), usually for a limited term; (iii) appointment of a committee and chairman and often of a temple manager. Here the author is not clear as to how the appointments are made. If committees appoint chairmen and managers, by whom are the committees appointed? Very often larger temples elect wealthy local businessmen or politicians to their committee, and even in smaller temples local leaders often serve on the temple committee. Wealthy and influential personalities are hoped to guarantee the good luck of a temple in more than one way.\n\nIt is now time to recapitulate the main themes of the whole book: to point out its merits and its shortcomings. First of all, the book starts off with some kind of ambiguity concerning what the author's real objective is. On p. 1 he announces his intention as \"to develop a new analytical model to account for certain features of belief and behavior in Taiwanese temple cults, and to provide a classificatory framework for temple types in urban Taiwan\"; in particular he wishes to examine certain aspects of \"community religion\". What those \"certain aspects\" entail is not clear, but an indication is given when author says that his \"major goal is to classify temples”, (p. 4). On the other hand, he also seems to aim at revealing \"the systematic nature of the folk beliefs\" (p. 4), which", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1979.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208898, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1980", "page_number": 60, "title": "RAS-1980", "content_text": "32\n\nKEITH G. STEVENS\n\ninclude the burning of incense every day. This amongst other things saves the individual having to perform the rite before his ancestral tablets daily.\n\n4 There are no Confucian temples in either Hong Kong or Macau.\n\n5 Although there are obvious and major differences between Daoism, Buddhism and Folk religion, their beliefs and practices are so interwoven and syncretized beyond description, that in practice there is almost a single religious scheme of things. A handful of folk religion temples, mostly in Chaozhou and Min An community resettlement areas, are also centres for spirit medium activity. Chaozhou and Min An people customarily communicate with the major gods through minor gods and spirit mediums, Folk religion is very occasionally referred to as \"Spirit worship” (Shen jiao), albeit more by foreigners than by Chinese.\n\nChaozhou and Min An spirit mediums are usually males who speak with the more junior gods, whilst Cantonese spirit mediums are normally female and speak with the spirits of the dead.\n\n* The natives in both Hong Kong and Macau are Cantonese. Immigrants over the centuries who brought their own cultural heritage with them are the Hakka, Min An, Hoklo, and Chaozhou. The Chaozhou are speakers of the Chaozhou (sometimes called Swatow) whose native area is eastern Guangdong province. In folk religion the Chaozhou have more in common with their immediate neighbours to the north, the Min An and other Fukienese rather than with their Cantonese neighbours.\n\nThe total of 450 temples reflects the number found and visited by the author. The total given by the Hong Kong Government Temples Committee of the Home Affairs Department of over 500 private temples registered in Hong Kong is misleading in that their total includes to the author's knowledge quite a number of small temples which have been destroyed, removed or closed down. The author's number of 450 is also inaccurate as there are bound to be a number of very small temples hidden away in residential blocks of flats which would defy discovery without a visit to every floor of every apartment building.\n\n* County towns were the centres for official, commercial and religious activities. Villages within present day Hong Kong before the arrival of the British came under the jurisdiction of the mandarin at the county town of Hsin An (present day Pao An), north of the Sino-Hong Kong border.\n\n* However, an engraved title can easily be superseded when a more popular deity has been promoted to the main altar, without the title over the entrance being changed.\n\n10 Images on, beside, before and under altars can be categorised into the deities themselves, and their disciples, guardians and attendants. There are also two other categories of figures, seen only on separate altars in some Buddhist temples. These are the likenesses of the founding Abbot and of major donors and their wives.\n\n11 Urban and rural are terms used for the areas where the temples were established, and many a rural temple is now lost in the centre of a vast modern housing estate. Urban temples do not include village temples, they do however include the temples of the market towns such as Taipo and Yuen Long.\n\n12 These \"pensioners\" are normally the most needy and worthy elderly males or females of the community, voted or appointed into the post and supported there by subscription.\n\n13 See Hong Kong 100 Years Ago (Hong Kong City Hall, 1970) on the sixth page of photographs, though under another titling.\n\nPage 60\n\nPage 61", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1980.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209377, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 34, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "12\n\nJANET LEE SCOTT\n\nregulations. The Model Rules of 1982 state clearly that \"The number of floor representatives for one floor shall depend on the total number of household units on the floor but shall not normally exceed three. Each floor of the same building shall have an equal number of floor representatives\" (City and New Territories Administration 1982:2). However, the majority of committees show considerable variation in the number of floor representatives elected. While most committees do not elect more than three floor representatives per floor (most elect two or three), the majority of committees operate with unequal representation by floor. For example, in one block one floor had selected seven floor representatives, while other floors in that block had selected only two. While this is an extreme example, half of the committees vary the number of their floor representatives, electing two or three per floor, with different floors electing different numbers. Adding up the figures, eight committees had elected twenty or more representatives, while the remaining had elected nineteen or less. The smallest committee was operating with a total of eight members, which meant that some floors had not elected representatives at all.\n\nMutual Aid Committee officeholders are chosen from the committee's group of elected floor representatives, the floor representatives doing the electing themselves. Aside from this responsibility, what other duties do the floor representatives perform? Much depends on the general functioning of the committee. If it is inactive (that is, meets infrequently, organizes no activities, rarely participates in the activities sponsored by the District Office), the floor representatives will have little or nothing to do. A number of chairmen, rather embarrassed, had to admit that this was so. As their name suggests, the major responsibility of the floor representatives is to keep in touch with the residents of their floor, keeping an eye open for problems, and collecting complaints and opinions to present in the MAC meeting. The floor representatives also help transmit information to the residents from the MAC, which, in its turn, is receiving it from the District Office and other government departments. For example, before the recent District Board elections, the floor representatives of one committee went to the residents of their floors to assist them in registering as electors. Others help by distributing leaflets or", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209385, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 42, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "20\n\nJANET LEE SCOTT\n\nthe halls and the entrances of the blocks, watching for intruders and generally keeping an eye on the safety of the building. The majority of public housing estates have set up some kinds of patrol, or have had patrols in the past until the setting up of gates made them unnecessary (Scott 1980:38). While these neighbourhood security patrols are extremely common in other estates, there are very few at Lok Fu.\n\nWhy is this? There are a number of possible reasons, beginning with the smaller size of these blocks. Lok Fu Estate is designed on the older Mark I and Mark II structural designs which accommodate fewer people to start with, and recently, a number of blocks have been losing residents to newer estates elsewhere, or to home ownership schemes. In addition, the conversion of many blocks has meant fewer units, and therefore, fewer resident families. Fewer residents suggests fewer problems to many people, and so residents of some blocks do not see the need for a patrol. In addition, the H-shape of the Mark II blocks with outside balconies makes it easier to spot intruders, and makes residents feel safer. It should also be remembered that Lok Fu Estate has a Neighbourhood Police Unit in Block #13, and all the MAC officers are acquainted with its director. In fact, all the chairmen but one stressed again and again how safe and peaceful life was in the blocks. Another reason, one probably more to the point, is that residents of most blocks are simply no longer enthusiastic about patrolling, and they are not willing to give money to pay for the service, even if earlier in the committee's history they had supported such a team. The result has been half-hearted attempts to form patrols, and numerous failures.\n\nFor example, one committee had planned to establish a patrol team, but both interest and funds were insufficient to support it. Committee officers then decided that it would be more effective to hire a watchman for the front gate, but residents would not give money for that either, so up to now nothing has been accomplished. A similar lack of funds (and authority) prevented another committee from starting a patrol team. \"The MAC organizations were mainly set up in 1973, assisted by the City District Office, because public order was very bad at that", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209436, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 93, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "71\n\nriot, the Council passed several resolutions. Among them were the following:\n\n(1) That an order be given to the police to bring up the rioters arrested by them, that afternoon if possible, and that the Police Magistrate be requested to deal with them at once,\n\n(2) That the sentences passed on the rioters be placarded\n\nin Taipingshan and the Chinese parts of town, and,\n\n(3) That His Excellency the Major-General Commanding the Forces be requested to send a picket of one hundred men to be available for the assistance of the police, and to remain until the police reported that they were no longer required.2\n\nIt is obvious that the Government felt itself under siege.\n\nIn accordance with the resolutions, twenty-eight rioters were brought before the Magistrate at 4 that afternoon. Of these, eight were immediately found guilty. The sentences were harsh, even by the standards of the day. Six were given 12 months' prison, and two, who were boys of 15, were given six months each. There is little doubt that these sentences were imposed for their deterrent effect.29\n\nThe \"Buffs\" were called out and were given permission by the Committee of the Tung Wah Hospital to be picketed in the Hospital's hall.30\n\nYet, although order was apparently restored, the strike continued, and, indeed, intensified. The cargo boats did not return to work, and rice pounders, coolies, artisans and workmen of all descriptions joined the strike. Rumours that the city would be set on fire at night undermined confidence. Admiral Sir William Dowell even undertook to land a party of men from the Audacious in the event of a fire.31\n\nThe fact that it was the night of the mid-Autumn festival, and that a lantern procession previously planned had to be called off, added to the already tense atmosphere. In the end, a rather low-key procession did take place, without incident.\n\n1", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209589, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 246, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "224\n\nCARL T. SMITH\n\nWith children performing there was no question of respectability. It was announced some weeks after the first performance that \"several ladies having expressed regret at not witnessing the late performance of the Portuguese children, Mr. Souza, with the consent of the parents, and at the request of the Committee, has consented to repeat the performance at an early date\".\n\nIn 1866 the Portuguese community built a club house at Shelley and Elgin Streets. Attached to it was a small theatre. It was used not only by Portuguese amateurs but, before the opening of the Theatre Royal in the City Hall in 1869, it was the venue for the productions of the Amateur Dramatic Club. The Theatre portion of Club Lusitano was demolished in 1873,\n\nThe Germans built a club house on Wyndham Street in 1872. It contained a small auditorium. German amateur groups used it for plays and operettas. More appreciated by the non-German speaking community were the concerts and the appearance of Liedertafel singing groups.\n\nTHE A.D.C—BORN IN A MATSHED\n\nAn Amateur Theatrical Society was formed in 1860. Its membership was made up of both civilians and military officers.\n\nFor the 1860-61 season they erected a new matshed. It was said that in its internal arrangements there was \"no lack of comfort, indeed elegance has received its share of attention\". It included a continental innovation the prompter's box was placed in the centre in front of the curtain \"according to the French custom”.\n\nThe Committee of the Society came under attack for alleged misuse of funds. At the second performance of the 1861 season it was deemed necessary to make a public statement refuting accusations which had appeared in the local press. The Committee had been charged \"with spending the profits in cold fowl and sherry behind the scenes.\" Two professional ladies of the stage also figured in the accusations. The newspaper account of the public explanation concluded with the sentiment that \"Hong Kong thanks the Amateurs and has fullest confidence in the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209590, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 247, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "225\n\nmanagement. We hope they may not be out of pocket as the Garrison Company was last year.\n\nAfter the initial ballyhoo about the Committee, described as a \"scolding given in true washer-woman style\", which only amused the town, the season was a great success. A slightly sour note was injected into the 1862-63 season because only four performances were given, while it had been announced when advertising for subscriptions that there would be six. Complaints compounded in 1863-64 when prices were advanced to a sum which was thought to be \"just beyond the limit to which a class were prepared to pay for entertainment\". Consequently, the theatre for the first performance was only half filled.\n\nThe 1865-66 season also began inauspiciously. At a meeting in November to arrange for the coming season, there was such poor attendance that it was feared the Amateurs might have to give up.\n\nWhen the Amateur Dramatic Corps looked back on its history, it gave its founding date as 1860, however, in the announcements of the group in the 1860s it is called the Hong Kong Amateur Theatrical Society.\n\nTHE THEATRE ROYAL\n\nAmateur dramatics took on a new vigour with the organisation or reorganisation of the theatrical group in 1860. Revived interest emphasised the need of a suitable theatre. Until the opening of the Theatre Royal in the City Hall in 1869, various makeshift arrangements had to be made after the Victoria Theatre was closed in the 1850s.\n\nIn 1861, the China Mail looked toward the future:\n\nWe hope the time is not distant when a neat permanent building constructed on the best known principles of acoustics will take the place of the temporary mat sheds, which need so much exertion on the performers' part, and indulgence on that of the audience. The acoustics are bad. Now that the capability of having these entertainments annually is beginning to be procured, it would be well to take measures soon, to", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209591, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 248, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "226 \n\nCARL T. SMITH \n\nsee what should be done toward erecting a permanent theatre\". \n\nThe year following, 1862, plans for a Theatre and Assembly Room were on view at the Hong Kong Club. They were estimated to cost $34,000, but a newspaper reporter was more realistic. In his opinion \"a glance shows it would cost $60,000 at least\". \n\nSomething as ambitious as this had to wait some years. It was finally realized with the opening of the City Hall in 1869. In the meantime, mat sheds, a large room in St. Andrew's School and the Club Lusitano were used. \n\nA public meeting in 1864 resolved that the Amateur Theatrical Matshed should be kept and a committee appointed to see to its preservation. One happy feature was the debt-free state of the theatre following a successful season. During the 60s there were notices of the Queen's Theatre on Queen's Road East. It was probably the adapted godown mentioned in the columns of Jarrett in his series \"Old Hongkong\" in the South China Morning Post. A Theatre Royal was on military ground, used not only for performances by the Garrison but also by visiting professional dramatic companies. In 1865 it was announced it was to be pulled down \"for much needed barrack improvements\". After its demolition, the Garrison amateurs used the Murray Barracks Canteen. \n\nThe general public expressed its appreciation to the military for permitting the theatre to occupy their ground. It had, however, been a hot, stuffy place, poorly ventilated. \n\nTYPES OF DRAMA \n\nAll the early productions of the amateurs were described variously as farce, burlesque, comic drama, facetious tragedy, vaudeville comedy or burlesque extravaganza. \n\nPerhaps the first play of a mere serious tone was given in 1875, when \"Plot and Passion\" by Thomas Taylor and J. Lang was presented. It was noted, however, that a drawback to such a play was its love scenes, as these were difficult when played by males only companies. The reviewer thought that while it \n\n! \n\n!", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209606, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 263, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "241\n\n# APPENDIX\n\n## THE HONG KONG AMATEUR DRAMATIC CLUB AND ITS PREDECESSORS Significant Dates and Performances.\n\n(Authors and dates of first publication or production from A. Nicoll, A History of English Drama, \"Handlist of Plays\".)\n\n(Note: only ADC productions are noted here: professional performances, and performances by Garrison groups or other amateur groups not detailed here).\n\n### 1844/45\n\n18 Dec. 1844 proposed to form a dramatic company of amateurs under patronage of H. E. Governor Davis.\n\n### 1845/46\n\n3 Jan. 1846 Tues. last performance given by \"Corps Dramatique\" at Aqui's Theatre in the Lower Bazaar.\n\n27 Jan. 1846 party of Amateur Performers presented \"The Lady and the Devil\" followed by \"Fortune's Frolic\" Aqui's Theatre.\n\n24 Mar. 1846 Amateur Performers Wed. last, \"The Midnight Hour\" and \"The Sleep Walkers\" Theatre.\n\n28 Apr. 1846 Amateur performance Mon. evening at Aqui's.\n\n27 June 1846 - Amateur Performers fifth and last performance at Aqui's Theatre.\n\n8 Jan. 1846 at length a fair prospect of a Theatre being erected in Hong Kong. Idea suggested last year. Half of funds needed already subscribed.\n\n9 Feb. 1846 Meeting of shareholders of proposed Theatre at house of Mr. Just, corner Queen's Road and Pottinger Street.\n\n### 1848/49\n\n1 Nov. 1848 first public performance by amateurs in new theatre (the Victoria) erected by Mr. Duddell. \"The Weathercock” (J. T. Allingham, 1805) followed by a comic song, concluded with farce \"Rival Valets\" (J. Ebsworth, 1805).\n\n1 Dec. 1848 - Amateurs second performance. \"Fortune's Frolic\" farce (J. T. Allingham, 1799) \"Bambastes Furioso\" burlesque tragic operetta (W. B. Rhodes, 1810) \"The Weathered\" farce\n\n### 1852/53\n\n8 Nov. 1852 meeting at City Hall of persons interested in the revival of drama in Hong Kong. To take measures for preserving the Victoria Theatre to the community for purpose it was originally erected. Committee of four to organize Theatrical Company.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209874, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1983", "page_number": 133, "title": "RAS-1983", "content_text": "In fact it has almost as many people as Lamma, nine times its size and close to Hong Kong. Its average elevation is about 100 feet, and there are three villages.\n\nMany other islands lie outside the British boundary. Of them I can say practically nothing, as I have never visited them, and there are no large-scale maps of them. They remain a rich field for enquiry and research in every direction.\n\nIn conclusion, I can only hope I have not bored you unduly; if I have, I can only say that having known and visited the islands for twenty years, I find them more interesting every year, and if I have interested some of you, I shall feel this afternoon has not been spent in vain.\n\n9th August 1937\n\nI\n\nNOTES\n\nSee J. Dyer-Ball's Things Chinese or Notes Connected with China fifth edition, revised by E.T.C. Werner (1925), re-issued by OUP, Hong Kong, 1983, pp. 297-8.\n\n* Yuen Chau Tsai, (\"Little Round Island\"), where the residence of the District Officer was is now the home of the Secretary for District Administration. The adjacent anchorage was reclaimed a few years ago.\n\n* Naikwuchau is now called Hei Ling Chau (\"Happy Island\"). This followed its early postwar lease to the Leprosy Mission (Hong Kong Auxiliary) which resulted in the change of name, intended to reflect the \"healing\" nature of the work and the improvement in the patients' lives.\n\n* Now the Rural Committee Offices.\n\n* Tai Ho at present uses for its name characters meaning \"Big Oyster\".\n\n* The yamen is usually now called the Tung Chung Fort, or Tung Chung Walled City.\n\n* At Tei Tong Tsai (\"Little Pits\").\n\n* Ngong Ping (“High Plain\").\n\n* Dedicated to Yeung Hau Wong.\n\n* Tsin Yue Wan at present uses for its name characters meaning \"Fried Fish Bay\".\n\n* Now usually called Fan Lau (\"Divided Streams”).\n\n* This fort is known as Kai Yik Kok Fort (“Chicken's Wing Point\"). On it, please see A.M. da Silva Fan Lau and its Fort, an Historical Perspective, in Vol. 8 (1968) of this Journal pages 82-95.\n\n* Tai Long Wan (\"Big Wave Bay\").", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1983.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210659, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 10, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "20 December, 1986: Mai Po and Lau Fau Shan Dr. Richard \n\n14 March, 1987: \n\nIrving \n\nShing Mun Arboretum and Tai Po Kau Forest Reserve James Hayes \n\nBesides the local visits, there were two weekend tours to the city of Foshan in Guangdong organized and conducted by Dr. David Faure of our Council. The May 1986 visit was so popular that it was repeated in December. Arrangements were also made during the year for members to participate in a Bhutan tour for early 1987 arranged by Mrs. Peggy Craig, one of our members and a well-known travel specialist. \n\nThe Council noted the high quality of the programmes and wishes to express its deep appreciation to the lecturers, visit and tour leaders. Special thanks go to Elizabeth Sinn, Chairman of the Programme Sub-committee, and her helpers for such a satisfactory outcome. The Council also wishes to thank the Curator, Hong Kong Museum of History, Kowloon Park, for the regular use of its well-equipped lecture hall, and the assistance of his staff there. \n\nThe Council continue to discuss venues for lectures. Mindful of the fact that not everyone finds it easy or, dare I say natural to go to lectures at the Museum of History at Kowloon Park, Tsimshatsui, we try to find venues on Hong Kong Island. Some suitable places have been suggested, but in most cases require more advance booking than we are usually able to contrive. However, we will try to improve on the position. \n\nAdministration \n\nDuring the year, we benefitted from the conscientious, thoughtful and strong support given by our new Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Rukhshana Daroowala who worked closely with the Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Robyn McLean. It was therefore a double blow when, unexpectedly, Mrs. Daroowala had to leave Hong Kong early in 1987 when her banker husband was posted to Canada, and at more or less the same time Robyn McLean left Hong Kong to return to Australia after fourteen years' residence, the last six of \n\nix", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210672, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 23, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "6 \n\nON \n\nHELEN F. SIU \n\nwandering before he connected up with his maternal uncle in Kowloon. He was given the uncle's telephone number, but not knowing that dialing to Kowloon needed an area code, he could not put through the call. He did not dare to ask advice from the shopkeepers who let him use the phone for fear that naive questions would immediately reveal his alien identity. \n\nHis fears were real. Though he was wearing what a Hong Kong youth would normally have, his rural accent and his unfamiliar gestures generated enough suspicious looks from people around him. At the time, the Hong Kong police had set up check points to stop illegal aliens from reaching the city proper. Coupled with police raids in resettlement areas and the constant official warnings to prosecute those who sheltered illegal aliens, the maneuvers created the atmosphere of a state of siege for Liang. \n\nHe was lucky to have the connections of a maternal uncle, who quickly took him in as an apprentice in a Chinese restaurant. A labour certificate came with a legal status, the \"green stamp,\" giving him temporary residence rights in Hong Kong. He felt secure enough to return to his home for a visit in 1982. It was a happy event, but the three years of sojourn left an unspeakable mark on Liang's life. The mark told the story of what it meant to be an immigrant from rural Guangdong to urban Hong Kong at the historical juncture when both societies were suspended in a state of uncertainty. \n\nThe setting for emigration \n\nThe year 1979-80 was disorienting for many youths in rural Guangdong. The Third Plenum of the Party Central Committee in late 1978 gave the go-ahead signal for political and economic reforms. In the commune where Liang was, cadres with due anxiety started to introduce the new production responsibility system. Even before the reforms became official, interest groups had pushed for relaxation in the local economy. The atmosphere triggered unexpected movements in the rural commune. Though the commune was not dismantled at the time, work responsibility was gradually allocated to households. Surplus labour emerged as a problem for the more efficiently managed household economies.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210695, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 46, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "29\n\nGovernor, Francis said \"Is that defamation? I thought it was a recommendation usually in Hong Kong”). Whilst Francis argued with the Europeans, Ng Choy mobilised the Chinese who first packed the City Hall so that the Europeans could not get in, and when the Europeans adjourned to the cricket field requested an interpreter so that they could follow the proceedings. Their request being ignored Ng Choy led them away. Francis, like Hennessy, seems to have had a genuine interest in the welfare of others and particularly of the Chinese and any section of the community that was at a disadvantage.\n\nOne of the things that Hennessy did in 1878 was to revive the Hong Kong Volunteer Corps. There had been volunteers in 1854 and the Corps was founded in 1862 but was disbanded in 1866. It is not surprising that Francis, with his army background, should join. He was an active member until 1887 and maintained an interest until his death. In 1878 he was sworn in as an artillery member (there was also a rifle section) and in July he was elected a captain and received his commission. Another captain and three lieutenants were also elected. There was some criticism in the press of the elections it being suggested that Hennessy had influenced the results, and it was said that two of the appointments were positively distasteful. Francis took part in parades and exercises and rifle competitions, and in 1880 was gazetted an additional A.D.C. to the Governor. In June 1880 there was a meeting of the volunteers with the Governor to discuss the future of the Corps and Francis expressed interest in raising a company of Portuguese who formed a sizeable section of the European community.\n\nBy 1882 the Corps was nearly defunct again and a public meeting was held to consider starting a new one. A committee of five, including Francis, was appointed to draw up rules and regulations. A constitution was approved and in January 1883 the new Corps, some fifty strong, paraded and made \"a creditable show\". In March there was an election of officers. Francis was defeated for Major but again elected a captain. In April when the drill season was wound up the Daily Press reported “the main burden of the drilling work has fallen upon Captain Francis and he has shewn qualifications for drilling men and getting them into an efficient condition such as are seldom seen in a volunteer officer\". In replying to a toast to the Officers Francis said that perhaps an apology was", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211034, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1987", "page_number": 95, "title": "RAS-1987", "content_text": "70\n\n32\n\nFor further details and comments about the establishment and failure of the 1881-1883 Normal School, see CO129/197, p. 326f. In this file, Colonial Office minutes are critical of Hennessy's extravagance, note that \"the scheme is evidently Dr. Eitel's with Governor Hennessy's fiat\" and other correspondence (e.g., Eitel first report on the Normal School, in Eitel to M.S. Tonnochy, Acting Colonial Secretary, 19th January, 1882, and his second report enclosed in his letter to Tonnochy of 19th January, 1882) shows that Eitel, the Inspector of Schools, felt that there would be very unfortunate repercussions if the school were to be closed and that the headmaster, A.J. May was even prepared to take a salary reduction (from the original proposal of $2,400 a year to $1,600) rather than see the Normal School break up. In later reports (contained in CO129/202 p. 532f.), Eitel compared the Normal School, with its \"special private tuition and instruction\" in pedagogy, to the pupil-teacher scheme at the Central School to the disadvantage of the latter, and May, in his letter to Frederick Stewart of 19th July, 1883, mentioned the virtues of being able to utilize simulation techniques for the preparation of teachers at the Normal School. The actual end of the Normal School, which had been dismissed as unnecessary in the Education Commission Report of September 1882, was precipitated by A.J. May's insistence, in September 1883, that the students agreed to a bond to teach for five years at a salary rate of $25 per month on their completion of the course. The immediate result was that four of the ten students left for the Medical College at Tientsin, three joined commercial firms, and one became a government interpreter, leaving only two of the original intake, as mentioned above, to become teachers.\n\n33\n\nIn Singapore, a central training college for men teachers using English as the medium of instruction was proposed in 1904 and again in 1910, but the scheme was aborted because of the lack of applications. In Kuala Lumpur, an experimental teacher training course began in 1905, proved successful, and was followed by a two-year course in Penang in 1907. See Wong Hoy Kee, Francis, and Gwee Yee Hean, Perspectives: The Development of Education in Malaysia and Singapore (Kuala Lumpur: Heinemann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd., 1972), pp. 12-14.\n\n34\n\nWhat is certain is that his name does not appear in the Blue Book as one of the Pupil Teachers at the Central School at any time between 1880 and 1885. As noted above, Mok Man Cheung won the Class 1 Mathematics prize in January 1884. He was employed as \"Fourth Chinese Assistant\" at the Central School from September 1884. He did not, therefore, have the time to be enrolled in a pupil teacher's course, which customarily lasted for three years, but he might have taken an examination in \"Pupil-Teacher's Theory\" while studying in Class 1.\n\n35\n\nThe dispute over the opening hours at the City Hall Museum had come to a head in 1880 when the Executive Committee of the City Hall Museum, led by its chairman, William Keswick, attempted to restrict the entry of Chinese to the afternoons. They were opposed by the first Chinese member of the Legislative Council, Ng Choy, and by the Governor, Sir John Pope Hennessy. See CO129/189 p. 476-614 for correspondence, largely unsympathetic to the Committee's discriminatory proposal and including an extract from the Hong Kong Hansard for 1880 reporting a speech by Ng Choy, and CO129/192 p. 438-446 for correspondence which includes Keswick's opinion that racial distinctions should not be abolished with regard to admission to the Museum of the City Hall. The call for separate schools for the different races had been made on a number of occasions in the past, most notably in 1845, 1856, and 1870-1872, but the most recent resurgence of interest and argument about the issue had been provoked by a speech made by the Anglican Bishop Hoare at the Prize Distribution of the Diocesan Boys' School in January", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211158, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1987", "page_number": 219, "title": "RAS-1987", "content_text": "194\n\nResponsibility for the general welfare of the Chinese in Hong Kong was assumed by the hospital directors past and present.\n\nTheir espousal of Chinese causes led them into conflict with certain European interests. It was felt they wielded too much influence over the Chinese. Their connections with Chinese authorities also caused alarm.\n\nMany aspects of life and business of the Chinese in Hong Kong were connected with China, hence, there were many occasions when it was necessary to correspond and negotiate with Chinese officials.\n\nThere was sharp criticism in the English language press against the committee for taking upon itself matters which were considered to be the proper concern of the Hong Kong Government.\n\nBecause of this, a public meeting was held at the hospital in 1875 to discuss whether it was “advisable to have a Kung Soh or Town Hall built so as to separate the functions of the committee from that of the general community in order to avoid further criticism.\" There was no consensus of opinion on the matter.\n\nTwo years earlier, the Registrar General, who was responsible for relations between the Government and the Chinese, had asked the Tung Wah Hospital Committee to select two men from each district of the city to serve as headmen of the district watchmen.\n\nThe Committee had demurred stating it would like to see a separation of their duties as the committee of the hospital and as leaders of the kaifong. The Governor agreed that a separation was desirable.\n\nOne of the difficulties was that if the functions of the two groups were to be separated, as most felt should be done, the kaifong needed a proper meeting place.\n\nAt the time of the discussion concerning the desirability of separating hospital matters from general community affairs in 1875, the Chinese submitted a petition to the Government asking", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211172, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1987", "page_number": 233, "title": "RAS-1987", "content_text": "208 \n\nThere was only time in those busy days for a committee to meet on February 17 to pass a resolution that read: “A public meeting should be convened upon Wednesday, March 2 at 4.30 pm, and the Chief Justice shall be asked to preside. All members of the community are invited to attend. The meeting will be held at the City Hall.\" \n\nAfter Mr. Chater's question and the Government's reply, \"Brownie,\" the writer of the regular China Mail column “Fragrant Waters Murmur,” expressed the hope that \"some scheme for celebrating Her Majesty's jubilee will be harmoniously arrived at, and that it will reflect credit upon the community of Hongkong as well as be a permanent good to the Colony and a worthy record to our Queen.\" \n\nUnfortunately, it produced discord rather than harmony. It resulted in the Chinese holding their own meeting on March 28, when harmony did reign. That meeting decided to raise funds for a building for a Chinese Chamber of Commerce. \n\nWHEN EXPATS WAXED OVER GLORIES OF SOVEREIGN \n\nOn March 2, 1887, a public meeting was convened at the City Hall to pass resolutions concerning Hongkong's celebration of the Golden Jubilee year of Queen Victoria. \n\nFive resolutions were passed and several amendments were proposed. The proposer of each resolution gave a speech as did its seconder. It was an occasion upon which Hongkong's would-be Demosthenes could display their oratorical skill. \n\nThe anticipated celebration was one in which national pride could luxuriate. In that day loyal Britons took pride in the worldwide Dominion of the Empire. The occasion was an opportunity for the expatriates in Hongkong, an outpost of that Empire, to express their patriotic sentiments, \n\nIn the nineteenth century imperialists did not question the right of \"civilised nations\" to impose their rule over what were considered the less advanced peoples of the world. The \"white man's", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211191, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1987", "page_number": 252, "title": "RAS-1987", "content_text": "227\n\nThe chairman of the public meeting had attempted to avoid these difficulties. He sensed that the community was about to launch itself into a stormy sea if it decided too quickly on a project.\n\nHe suggested that they might like to have more time to consider the matter. If so, he said he would be quite willing to entertain a motion for the meeting to be postponed until there was sufficient time for mature reflection. Or, as an alternative, if there was no wish for another meeting, the official committee which was to be named could be instructed to ascertain the views and wishes of the whole community.\n\nThese suggestions were wise, and much discord would have been avoided if they had been heeded.\n\nFollowing the meeting, one writer listed all the schemes which had come to his notice. He had heard of \"the enlargement of the already too large City Hall, of the removal of the Clock Tower to another site, of transporting the Dent Fountain to Wongneichong (to be buried there, perhaps) and of its replacement by a statue of the Queen in front of the City Hall, the addition of a ballroom to Government House, of a statue of the Queen anywhere or everywhere, of a subscription to the Indian and Colonial Institute, of the balance of subscriptions for a fete and rejoicings being handed over to the local charities, of a high school for girls, a home for the Protection of Young Girls, and (most wonderful of all) of a Poor House.\"\n\nTo put his own stamp of foolishness on the affair, the writer said: \"It has likewise been breathed softly, but not yet openly proposed, that a Home for Decayed British Merchants who have subscribed regularly for charities for say twenty years back might be suitable, as it seems likely to be a necessary mode of celebrating the historical event of Her Majesty's jubilee.\"\n\nA few of the proposals are of special interest because they reflect some of the social problems of the period. Two of them were concerned about the needs of girls in Hongkong.\n\nThe proposal for a middle school for girls would satisfy an", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211292, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1988", "page_number": 8, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "PRESIDENT'S REPORT, 17 March 1989\n\nThe year has seen a continued great increase in membership, a fuller and more varied programme of activities, more sales of our stock of publications, an improved (but still not satisfactory) financial situation, and a start to the work of the several new committees set up following acceptance at last year's AGM of recommendations stemming from the Symposium Report on the Future of the Society. Thanks to Phillip Bruce, I am also happy to table the Society's new brochure.\n\nI have fought unsuccessfully my tendency to be long-winded: but truly there is much to report, and I believe it will be of interest to those present tonight and to the wider audience reached through the Journal.\n\nMembership\n\nOur Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Bruce, reports that there are currently around 700 Local Members, plus 116 Overseas Members and 5 Institutional Members. There has thus been another big increase in the past year, with 41 since 1st January 1989 alone. The gains obviously greatly offset the losses, but there have been about 50-60 deletions owing to departures and longstanding non-payment of annual fees. The local \"Ordinary\" membership includes 129 Joint Members (258 persons), as well as 104 Life Members and 10 Student Members. Approximately three-quarters of the local membership lives on Hong Kong Island.\n\nProgramme\n\nDuring the year, the Activities Committee, continuing under Dr. Elizabeth Sinn's energetic and imaginative leadership gave us a record-breaking 11 talks, 8 local visits, one outside tour to Foshan, Guangdong, and a Chinese Dinner at City Hall and a Cocktail Party besides the Annual Dinner after the AGM. A full list of these events follows:\n\nProgramme Events\n\nApril\n\n9\n\n16\n\nTour of St. John's Cathedral (organiser: Mrs. Doreen King)\n\nDiscovery Central (tour: organiser Phillip Bruce)\n\nPage vii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211595, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1989", "page_number": 10, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "AGM for an approach for financial assistance to those leading “Hongs\" which support the parent body in London with its publishing expenses, a letter has now been sent to them to this end. We waited for publication of the new book and the latest Journal before taking action, so that they could see the results of our labours and (hopefully) feel more encouraged to help thereby. There is no doubt that the time has come to seek their assistance, given the difficulty in making ends meet and yet pursuing an energetic and rounded programme of activities in line with our remit.\n\nThe Programme\n\nThe past twelve months saw 9 lectures, 10 visits and one Chinese dinner, besides the usual dinner following the AGM. The visits were the largest number on record. This was due to a greater sharing of the load by members of the Activities Committee, which now includes Members of the Society as well as Councillors. Details are as follows:\n\n \n Dr. Maria Jaschok\n “Concubines and Bond Servants\"\n 18 April\n \n \n Dr. Tom Stanley\n **Emperor Hirohito and the Pacific War'\n 12 May\n \n \n Professor Tong Kin-woon\n “Oracle Bones, the Key to Shang China\"\n 9 June\n \n \n Stephen and Anne Selby\n \"Pukka Pidgin\"\n 14 July\n \n \n Dr. Dea Birkett\n \"Women Travellers in Asia'\n 28 July\n \n \n \n Chinese Dinner in the City Hall Restaurant\n 25 September\n \n \n Dr. Lauren Pfister\n \"Clues to the Life and Academic Achievement of James Legge, 1815-1897”\n 20 October\n \n \n Professor John Hodgkiss\n **The Biology of Mangroves and the Role They Play in Hong Kong\"\n | December\n \n \n Professor Graham Johnson\n \"The Hong Kong Chinese in Canada: an Updating\"\n 5 January\n \n \n Rev. Carl Smith (with Elizabeth Sinn, Susanna Hoe, Maria Jaschok, Patrick Hase and James Hayes)\n \"The Ladies of Lyndhurst Terrace\"\n 23 February\n \n \n Dr. Mimi Chan\n \"Images of Chinese Women in Anglo-American Literature\"\n \n \n\nix", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211596, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1989", "page_number": 11, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "23 March\n\nDr. Elizabeth Sinn\n\n\"Management of the Chinese in 19th Century Hong Kong and the Role of the Tung Wah Hospital”\n\nThe following Visits were made:\n\n29 April\n\n6 May\n\n24 June\n\n1 July\n\nAnita Wilson and Dr. James Hayes\n\nVisit to the Pottery Kiln at Tuen Mun, Ha Tsuen Tang Ancestral Hall and Old Market, Ling Wan Monastery (with vegetarian lunch), Lai Family Study Hall and Mansion at Sheung Tsuen, Hakka Mansion at Sham Ka Wai, and Yuen Long Old Market\n\nDr. James Hayes and Ted Brown Visit to Kowloon Walled City, Again! Phillip Bruce\n\nVisit to Old Marine Police Headquarters at Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon\n\nPhillip Bruce\n\nRepeat of the Visit of 24 June\n\n14 September Dr. Patrick Hase and Lee Man-yip\n\nVisit to Wo Hang for the Hot Air Balloon release at Mid Autumn Festival\n\n25 November Dr. James Hayes\n\n9 December\n\nVisit to places of interest on Hong Kong Island, including Waterfall Bay, the Aberdeen Country Park Management Centre, Chung Hom Kok, Shek O Village and Lei Yu Mun Barracks and Leisure Centre Rosemary Lee and Richard Gee\n\nRepeat of the N.T. Visit of 29 April\n\n13-14 January Anita Wilson, Dr. Dan Waters, Rev. Carl Smith and\n\nDr. Joseph Ting\n\n22 January\n\n18 February\n\nWeek End Visit to Macao\n\nPhillip Bruce\n\nVisit to some interesting Naval and Military Graves in the Colonial Cemetery\n\nPhillip Bruce and Dr. Anthony Siu\n\nVisit to the Tung Chung Area, the site of Hong Kong's Future Replacement Airport\n\nThis varied and interesting programme has again been due to the Activities Committee, which has worked hard under Dr. Elizabeth Sinn's", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212298, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1990", "page_number": 240, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "217\n\nhe testified that there was hardly a house in Victoria except the brothels - where he had not repeatedly been and where he was not known as a friend. See James Legge. \"The Colony of Hong Kong\", The China Review, op. cit., pp. 168-169. Unfortunately, these remarks were edited out of the reprint of this talk found in The Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 11 (1971), op. cit.\n\nSee n. 26\n\nM5 The impact and importance of Legge's life as a Non-Conformist academic has been summarized in my article in Ching Feng, “The 'Failures' of James Legge's Fruitful Life for China', op. cit. Another more general point about dissenting churches should be made: in late nineteenth century Great Britain, the academic circles of academics who were dissenters appear to have functioned as a contrapuntal voice in the mainstream of English society. The publication of The British Quarterly became an organ for dissenting viewpoints which illustrates this point. Another factor involved in the influence of dissenting believers was the fact that many of the children of these people married into major families within English society. A perfect example is one of Legge's daughters from his first marriage, Eliza, who married a gentleman who later became the first Inspector-General of the Chinese Maritime Customs, Horatio Nelson Lay. See Lindsay Ride, op. cit., p. 9.\n\nC\n\nSee the case of Dr. Wong Foon, London Missionary Society Archives. Letters from South China, dated April 12, 1856. Further discussion occurs in letters of October 12, 1859, April 14, 1860, and November 28, 1860.\n\n47 Legge's opposition to opium and coolie trades, among other problems, was stated publicly in his address at the Hong Kong City Hall in 1872. See \"The Colony of Hong Kong\", The Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, op. cit., pp. 190-191. In 1870, Legge had joined his Chinese pastoral colleague Ho Jinshan in promoting a petition which opposed the newly legalized gambling opened by the Hong Kong government primarily for the sake of revenue. Over one thousand two hundred names, most of whom were Chinese, signed the petitions presented to the government on February 21st and March 6th, 1871. See Hong Kong Government Office, Colonial Office Records, CO129/149, 5, pp. 188-197 and 8, pp. 208-234.\n\n100\n\nSee the letter addressed to James Legge by Sir W. G. Liddell, the appointed representative of Oxford University, dated February 27, 1875 (Bodleian Library archives). Liddell makes it clear to Legge in the letter that his Non-Conformist background should not be a source of turmoil if he were admitted to the University. Although the letter also includes the qualification that Legge's credentials indicate a person of high standing, the doubt in Liddell's mind about the character of anyone from a dissenting tradition is explicit. It may be the case, as Mary Dominica Legge claimed, that James Legge was the first non-Anglican professor admitted to Oxford after 1871, but I have not yet found a way to verify this.\n\n69\n\nR. F. Horton commented, however, that Prof. Legge's involvement with the Non-Conformist Union was minimal. See his comments in his text, An Autobiography (London: 1918).\n\n*0\n\nAmong those with whom Prof. Legge had some direct spiritual interaction was the famous Hegelian philosopher, T. H. Green. In a letter dated April 29 (no year, but probably 1879, when both men were on the provisional committee of Somerville College), Green responds to a lengthy rejoinder Prof. Legge had given to a book Green had written. Green had sent the letter because, apparently, the professor had treated him like an orthodox believer,\" and Green felt there was a sort of hypocrisy in allowing you to continue under that impression\". The letter ends with Green politely defending his philosophical position, but also mirroring some sense of challenge to alter his views which must have been expressed by Prof. Legge. This letter is found\n\n4\n\nIL\n\nPage 240\n\nPage 241", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213416, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1995", "page_number": 12, "title": "RAS-1995", "content_text": "this Society's main objectives is to produce an annual journal. Contributions to the Journal from members are always very welcome and so please do contact our editor, Mr. Peter Halliday.\n\nOther Activities\n\nThe Society is fortunate in having a very outward and enthusiastic Activities Committee. For the first half of the year until her departure from Hong Kong Mrs. Rosemary Lee was the Chairman, and for the last few months, Mrs Anita Wilson has taken on this mantle, and more recently Mr. Geoffrey Roper has done so, and will be doing so in future. To all of them I would like to offer our sincere thanks. The Committee's efforts are there for all to see We have had 12 lectures at the City Hall:\n\n \n Date\n Title\n Lecturer\n \n \n 28 Apr 95\n A Fujian Hakka Village Temple Alliance\n Dr. John Lagerway\n \n \n 19 May 95\n Reflexivity in Research and a Question of Culture\n Dr Mary Pang (A study of Chinese in Britain)\n \n \n 23 Jun 95\n Contemporary Chinese Painting. Metamorphosis or Misrepresentation?\n Ms. Catherine Maudsley\n \n \n 7 Jul 95\n Fung Shui Woods of Hong Kong\n Mr. Richard Webb\n \n \n 15 Aug 95\n Liberation Evening (2 videos and brief talk) held at Royal HK Regiment Mess, Beaconsfield House\n Dr Elizabeth Sinn\n \n \n 29 Sep 95\n Hong Kong 1931-1941\n Ms. Mimi Chan\n \n \n 20 Oct 95\n A Guide to Hong Kong Literature\n \n \n \n 17 Nov 95\n Marine Bio-Diversity Protection in Hong Kong\n Prof. Brian Morton\n \n \n 15 Dec 95\n Hong Kong's Wild Places\n Mr Edward Stokes\n \n \n 12 Jan 96\n Hong Kong - A Woman's Place?\n Dr. Veronica Pearson\n \n\nxi", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213664, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1996", "page_number": 17, "title": "RAS-1996", "content_text": "Many have been undersubscribed? The short answer is, the odd one or two. A number of visits have, however, been heavily oversubscribed.\n\nMay I add here that we welcome suggestions and indeed help in running our programme. If you would like to deliver a lecture, lead a visit or help the Society in any way, please let a Council Member know. As you will have noticed, we sometimes ask for help with certain projects in the Newsletter.\n\nA special vote of thanks is due to Geoffrey Roper who holds one of the most demanding posts on the Council, namely that of Activities Committee Chairman. He has been supported on his committee by Vice President the Reverend Carl Smith, Vice President Dr Elizabeth Sinn, Dr Michael Lau, Dr Patrick Hase, Dr Joseph Ting, Mrs Anita Wilson and Mrs Claire Hockaday. The above Councillors have in turn been ably assisted by Mrs Valerie Garrett and Mr Jason Wordie. Several of the above have themselves given lectures or led visits. These usually entail considerable preparation and, in some cases, reconnoissance. Guanxi (connections) are often important. A sincere thank you to everybody who has helped with this programme, including of course all our speakers and anyone who has led a visit. I am sorry we cannot name you all.\n\nLibrary\n\nOur Honorary Librarian is presenting a separate report, but may I add that, over a period of years, we have done our best to build up a collection which includes a number of valuable, Oriental titles. Our library is ensconced in the City Hall. It is looked after by professional librarians employed by the Urban Council. We are grateful for this arrangement.\n\nTalking of books, we were sorry to hear of the passing of one of our past members, Arnold Graham (1905-96), in New Zealand. Confucius is quoted as having said:\n\nThe great mountain must crumble;\n\nThe strong beam must break;\n\nxvi", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1996.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213666, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1996", "page_number": 19, "title": "RAS-1996", "content_text": "Venues\n\nWe are grateful to the Urban Council for allowing us to use the City Hall for our jointly organised lectures. The Urban Council gives additional support in the form of publicity. Other lectures have been held at the Antiquities and Monuments office and again we are most grateful. Most of our Council and committee meetings are held in Price Waterhouse's offices. Again a sincere vote of thanks is due.\n\nAcknowledgements\n\nI have already thanked lecturers and Council Members for their help. Both David St. Maur Sheil and Philip Bruce, however, have been compelled to step down from the Council because of competing claims on their time. David served as Honorary Secretary starting in 1993, and Phillip had been a Councillor since 1987. We thank them both for all they have done for our Branch. A special mention must be made here of the contribution that Philip Bruce has made regarding military history, which he has researched and written about extensively.\n\nA further thank you is necessary to Claire Hockaday who, in addition to filling her post as Assistant Secretary where she has set about bringing everything up-to-date, has also in recent months taken on the job of Honorary Secretary. Her efforts are greatly appreciated.\n\nOne thing that we are not looking forward to, however, is saying goodbye to Anita Wilson this summer. Anita started serving on the Council in 1986 and she steps down tonight, although we hope to co-opt her for the next few months. Because she has always been such a willing and efficient Councillor, she will be extremely difficult to replace. We thank her sincerely for all she has done during the past 11 years. We wish her, together with her husband, John, well in their next posting.\n\nWhen I took over as President, one member said to me: 'You are lucky that you have good back up.' I must stress that I do indeed greatly appreciate all the support that I have been given, not only from Council and committee members but also from the membership as a whole.\n\nxviii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1996.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213946, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1997", "page_number": 16, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "Activities\n\nDuring the year under review 11 lectures, one concert, 13 local visits and three excursions to the China Mainland have been conducted. These covered a wide spectrum of topics and details may be seen in the Appendix attached to this report. Because the list is long I am unable to thank, in this report, all lecturers or persons who have led visits. We do, however, thank them as a group and we are pleased that some of them have accepted our invitations to be with us at this dinner tonight.\n\nA special mention must be made here of the Activities Committee which has met at intervals throughout the year. The members, many of whom have themselves given talks or led groups, comprise the Reverend Carl Smith, Doctors Elizabeth Sinn, Michael Lau, Patrick Hase and Joseph Ting, as well as Valery Garrett and Jason Wordie. During the year the place vacated by Claire Hockaday was filled by Sarah Parnell.\n\nThe Activities Committee, on which our Branch so much depends, chaired by Geoffrey Roper, has done a splendid job and provided a rich, diverse programme of events. We are extremely sorry to see Geoffrey Roper step down as Chairman of the Activities Committee. He has put in countless hours leading our activities team. We thank him and the members of his committee most sincerely.\n\nLibrary and Finance\n\nBoth our Honorary Librarian and our Honorary Treasurer will present their own reports later this evening. I thank both of them for the special expertise that they bring to our Council. We must also thank the City Hall Library, which comes under the Urban Council. Our RASHKB library is on permanent loan to the City Hall. There our books may be borrowed not only by RAS members but also referred to by the general public. It is hoped that, as well as serving as a paradise for bibliophiles, our library provides a bridge of understanding between our Branch and the community. Because many of our titles are valuable it has been decided that no book published before the year 1900 may be removed from the RAS library.\n\nXV", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213950, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1997", "page_number": 20, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "Let me give you an idea of the amount of work involved. Over the past year we have corresponded or had links with something like 50 institutions in Hong Kong and around the world, in addition to writing or contacting countless individuals. In many cases institutions or people undertaking research write to our Branch for information about Hong Kong history or other aspects of Hong Kong life. Academics and students not infrequently contact the Branch seeking advice and information.\n\nVenues\n\nOur lectures are normally jointly organised by our Branch and the Urban Council. Such functions are usually held in the City Hall. We are grateful for this assistance. Similarly, our Council and committee meetings are usually held in the offices of Price Waterhouse and again a sincere 'thank you' is due.\n\nOverseas\n\nOur Branch has 110 members living overseas and, as one goes through name lists, one often recalls faces of old friends who were active with the RAS in the Hong Kong of days gone by. The older you get the more you like to 'tell it like it was' and it is not surprising many of those now retired overseas still think fondly of the years they spent in the Territory.\n\nLast August Keith Stevens came up with the idea of forming a 'Friends of the RASHKB in Britain' Group and for it to meet a couple of times a year, or so, over a Chinese meal, and to have a lecture about Hong Kong or some similar function. Arrangements have been made for the Group to meet possibly either at the RAS Headquarters in London or at Saint Anthony's College Oxford. Details are still being worked out.\n\nSimilarly, Dr James Hayes and our Branch are now considering setting up a similar Group in Australia provided sufficient support is forthcoming.\n\nxix", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214114, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1997", "page_number": 182, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "151\n\nfrom the Colonial Office, in London, for the setting up of a Botanical Garden. This garden, which still flourishes today, finally came into being in 1862.\n\nBut, skipping a hundred years to the Branch's second time around, quite a lot else has been achieved. For example, the RASHKB has built up a respectable library of books on Asia. This is on permanent loan to the Urban Council, at the City Hall, and members of the general public are welcome to refer to it. On the shelves of the RASHKB Collection one can find many old, valuable titles, such as: A Narrative of the British Embassy to China in the Years 1792, 1793 and 1794, by Aeneas Anderson (1795) (then in the service of Earl Macartney), and Narrative of a Voyage Round the World, by Captain Sir Edward Belcher RN (1843), in two volumes. Some books in the RAS Collection bear interesting chops (stamps), such as from the old Canton Reading Room and the South China Morning Post's pre-World War II Library.\n\nIn addition RASHKB Archives, including files, photographs and papers, are deposited with the Government Public Records Office (PRO). Other Branch possessions are on long-term loan to the Hong Kong University. These include the F.A. Nixon, Buddhist, Tang Dynasty Scroll and the 38 M.A. McMullen Bills of Lading, relating to shipments in China from 1825-73. Also held by the University on behalf of the RASHKB are microfilms of 1847-59 Branch procedures and the Nixon Photographs of 991 bronze Nestorian crosses.\n\nAlthough the Society is basically apolitical, and occasionally thought of as being pro-establishment, it has not been afraid to take up cudgels when it felt there was a cause. As examples a letter was sent, in May 1995, to the Hong Kong Government pressing for the retention of the spirit hall and historical and architectural artefacts when the old Nga Tsin Wai Walled Village, in East Kowloon, is demolished.\n\nAlso, because of some government intransigence at the time, a small group of RASHKB members appeared twice before a Legislative Council committee to press for a properly established Public Records Office. When a purpose-designed, reasonably accessible, PRO opened in June 1997 at Kwun Tong, many members liked to think the RAS played a part in this successful outcome.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214160, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1998", "page_number": 18, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "is worth ten pressed men (or women) this Group has been able to carry out some really meaningful tasks and provide a community service. Our thanks are due to all these volunteers and especially to our two very experienced RAS Chartered Surveyor members, Bill Greaves and Bob Horsnell, who lead this Group (see Appendix D).\n\nFriends' of RASHKB\n\nAfter the setting up of such a Group was initially proposed in the summer of 1997, by Keith Stevens, the 'Friends' of the RASHKB, in Britain, got off to a good start in 1998. A separate report about this Group has been compiled by its Chairman (RASHKB Immediate Past President), David Gilkes. We are grateful to all our overseas members who have worked hard to establish this Group which is now, I am pleased to report, on a sound footing.\n\nLibrary and Finance\n\nBoth our Honorary Librarian, Julia Chan, and our Honorary Treasurer, Robert Nield, have prepared their own 1998/1999 reports. I thank them both for their guidance and for the special expertise they bring to our Council.\n\nAccommodation\n\nWe are extremely grateful to PricewaterhouseCoopers for providing us with accommodation, for our Council and committee meetings, conveniently situated in the heart of Central. We are also extremely grateful to the Public Records Office, at Kwun Tong, for providing us with storage space and assistance in other capacities during the past year. We are also grateful to the Urban Council for allowing us to conduct our lectures in the City Hall as joint Urban Council RASHKB functions.\n\nThe Council\n\nAlthough a large amount of the more routine administration and other work is carried out by individual Council members, much of it in their own homes, nevertheless all the important decisions are taken ‘in Council.' It meets once every six weeks or so with a break during the\n\nxvii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214604, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1999", "page_number": 19, "title": "RAS-1999", "content_text": "May, 1999, at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University, after which he gave a talk entitled: 'Hong Kong: From Memory Lane to Post 1997 Handover'\n\nRASHKB Library and finance\n\nBoth our Honorary Librarian, Julia Chan, and our Honorary Treasurer, Robert Nield, have prepared their own 1999/2000 reports which they will present at this Annual General Meeting. I thank them for their assistance and for the special expertise that they bring to our Council. Our RASHKB Library is on permanent loan to the City Hall Urban Council Library and we thank the City Hall and its staff for all their assistance during the past year.\n\nAccommodation\n\nWe also owe a debt of gratitude to PricewaterhouseCooper, who have helped us in various ways. With their offices situated in the heart of Central District, for example, they have provided us with very convenient accommodation for our Council and committee meetings. Similarly, we are grateful to the Public Records Office, at Kwun Tong, for providing us with storage space for our publications and for other assistance rendered by them during the past year. We are also indebted to the Government Leisure and Cultural Services Department for permitting us to use the City Hall accommodation for lectures which are run as joint RASHKB/Leisure and Cultural Services functions.\n\nThe Council\n\nAlthough a number of decisions have to be taken outside Council (because of the time factor) by individual office bearers or a few together, the majority of the important decisions are taken in Council. This meets every six weeks or so with a longer break over the summer. During the past year the Council has consisted of Doctors Elizabeth Sinn and Michael Lau, both Vice Presidents, Robert Nield, Peter Halliday, Julia Chan, Valery Garrett, Bob Horsnell, Tim Ko, and May Holdsworth. Doctors Patrick Hase, Joseph Ting, Peter Barker, and Janet Lee Scott have also been members of Council while the Reverend Carl Smith, Honorary Vice President, and Sarah Parnell have been co-opted on to the Council.\n\nxviii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1999.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214927, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2000", "page_number": 23, "title": "RAS-2000", "content_text": "submission to the Inland Revenue Department for charitable institutional status.\n\nAccommodation\n\nAgain we are grateful to our many good friends on whom we rely for accommodation. They include the Public Records Office, where our Journals and some of our archives are stored, the latter on permanent loan. We are also grateful to the City Hall where our lectures (which are run as joint functions with the City Hall) take place and again to PricewaterhouseCoopers who kindly allow us to hold committee meetings on their premises. A heartfelt thank you to all concerned.\n\nThe Council\n\nOther than those that have to be taken at AGMs, all-important Branch decisions are made in Council to whom our membership has delegated the running of our Branch. The latter functions completely autonomously from our Headquarters in London and separately from other Branches in Asia. Over the past year the RASHKB Council has comprised two Vice Presidents, Drs Elizabeth Sinn and Michael Lau. Other members have included Robert Nield, Julia Chan, Valery Garrett, Bob Horsnell, Tim Ko and May Holdsworth. It has also included Drs Patrick Hase, Joseph Ting, Peter Barker, Peter Halliday and Janet Lee Scott. The Reverend Carl Smith, our Honorary Vice President, and Sarah Parnell as Assistant Secretary, and her successor, Mary Painter, have been co-opted, non-voting members. We are grateful to everyone who sat on the Council and gave of his or her time.\n\nAcknowledgements\n\nHaving thanked Council and Activity Committee members, speakers and leaders of groups and various other persons, who have I failed to mention? Firstly we must thank HKBRAS members, Angus Forsyth and John Budge, for their valuable professional advice. Past Council member Geoffrey Roper still helps in various ways quietly behind the scenes as do some spouses of Council members. We value everyone's assistance. So many people and institutions have rendered help to us over the course of the year. It is quite possible that someone who deserves to be thanked has inadvertently slipped through the net.\n\nxxii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215907, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2002", "page_number": 206, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "140\n\nSeated in the front row are the other guest speakers for the day: Dr. Patrick Hase, a member of the conference organising committee and RAS Council member, who will talk about Shatin and its development from a village to a city; Reverend Carl Smith, the honorary vice-president, who will talk about his 40 years of research in Hong Kong, and Mr. Tim Ko, an organising committee member and Council member, who has prepared a slide presentation about living in Hong Kong from 1960 to 1980. Also listening attentively is Dr. Elizabeth Sinn, vice-president of the RAS, convenor of the conference and mistress of ceremonies for the day.\n\nI sit near the front to get better video of the proceedings, but it's dark in the hall and other than Dr. Waters, I realise I won't be able to capture any of the audience's faces. I direct my camera in their direction anyway, just in case, or maybe just to let them know they'd be wise not to doze off.\n\nThis was in December 2000, when the one-day conference was presented jointly with the Hong Kong Museum of History. Waters has since stepped down from the presidency he held for four and a half years, during which Hong Kong was handed back to the motherland.\n\nAn old hand's reflection...\n\nI met Waters for the first time a month before the conference at his home on Conduit Road. He greeted me at the door and he was just as I had imagined from our telephone conversations. He is a tall man with a strong presence. He has perfect posture and his movements are quick. Waters holds the 800m and 1500m local running records in the over 70 category. He has a full head of hair although the colour has changed from when he was a young man; the only other hint of his advanced years is that he's a bit hard of hearing.\n\nHe takes me to the study and has had his maid prepare a glass of orange drink for me. I haven't had orange drink from powder something like Tang since early childhood,\n\n-\n\nWhat do I want to know? he asks. What do I want to know? I ask myself. I really want to find out if the Royal Asiatic Society is as snobby as it sounds, maybe. But no, I don't ask that...", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]